Étoile's ensemble today features a lower and looser ponytail than Tamytha usually prefers to see her in, with a coral hairpin tying it in place right at the base of her neck. Nods to impracticality seem to be the theme of the day. She's been dressed in a tight fitting dress in the same palette as her veil: shimmering teals and then pink accents around all the stitching. The collar reaches high on her neck so that it actually covers under the more literal collar she was put in after, while the sleeveless design has been accented with a pair of delicate silver pauldrons with long loops of soft pink silk tied through them, which would be beautiful under most circumstances but today (like her hair) they keep getting stuck on her pack. 

Apparently, Lady Tamytha had been inspired by old Earth stories of [i]chevalier[/i], because she'd also put Étoile in an ornate silver gauntlet with impossibly intricate metalworking in all kinds of incredibly distracting spirals and loops that covered her from wrist to elbow. It was much more difficult to bend her arm wearing this than usual, so it was a lucky thing Lady Tamytha had only put on on her (dominant) left side! And then the dress itself, ooh la la! It clung tightly to every part of her except in the center, where a large diamond pattern had been chest to nearly hip level so that it exposed the underside of her breasts, her belly button, and a flash of frilly pink lace at the band of her low-cut, bikini-style bottom. Of course, it was easy for anybody who wanted to to catch flashes of [i]those[/i] any time they wanted, since the skirt of the dress was done in a long loincloth style that trailed all the way down to a centimetre or two above the ground but left the sides of her legs completely exposed. One supposes she was meant to wear greaves or something with it, but all Étoile had to cover her legs was a pair of simple slippers that cut off at her ankles. These at least were easy enough to walk in, but honestly she would kill to teach the Annunaki about the concept of sneakers. It's been a lifetime since running has felt quite right apart from her dalliances as Marianne.

And then there was her pack, which was positively stuffed with things Étoile was sure nobody needed for hunting. Yes, there was the rifle, which was very heavy, and the sidearm (which was also surprisingly heavy), but nobody needed seven tablets outside of their home for any reason at all, much less multiple sketchbooks, much less a full picnic-style lunch [i]and[/i] a variety of chilled wines. And why were there [i]multiple[/i] changes of clothes? Wasn't this an afternoon trip? And then there were the assorted medicines and treatments, a soft lamp for when it started getting darker, and...

Well, to be frank, it's a lucky thing the Annunaki were so ignorant of the actual capabilities of humans. Because there is simply no way frail little Étoile could carry half of this as smoothly as she did without the aid of her enhanced strength. But nobody in the entire party even bats an eye at her load. In fact, thank goodness they weren't going shopping, or else they'd almost definitely toss an extra twenty kilos of junk into her arms before the trip home. 

Étoile bobbles unsteadily as she clears the last step and puts her feet back on French soil for the first time in... [i]merde[/i], how long had it been? Too long. And now it had to be like this. Here was a place that [i]should[/i] be bustling with tourists! Happy families! Darling new couples! Long lines crisscrossing this way and that way and another, and their absence made the space feel even more desolate than if they'd been in an actual prairie. Fences were starting to rust, all of the colors looked so faded, and there wasn't a mouse or a princess anywhere in sight.

She mustn't sigh! She mustn't lament or look disappointed! Étoile startles when she hears a chime coming from her wrist, but recovers as-smoothly-as-is-possible while she reaches behind her to try and fish something out of her overstuffed pack. Two somethings, actually, and it's impossible. The rifle needs two hands to hold, the pistol needs a third (would that she were so lucky), and every time she moves to set one down she gets a glare from Jezcha or her friends that makes her think she might not make it home. She winds up tucking the pistol awkwardly under her chin and pinching the rifle on her shoulder, so she can just... barely... come on..!

You may not know that it is possible to pour water into a goblet with a beslippered foot, but then you will not have been a handmaiden to an important Annunaki family before. Étoile fills it effortlessly, humming a tune she'd heard as a child about a girl who dances in the moonlight with a pack of wolves while she works. With one last herculean effort she crams the bottle back in place and stoops for just a moment to pick up Lady Tamytha's favorite goblet. 

"Oh gosh, Lady!" she trills and giggles, offering the cup with a tiny curtsy even as she very nearly drops guns every which way, "Please accept this offering of fortified water! Your Étoile is sorry it's so bitter! But it's already past noon, and you need your strength, and she wants to see your eyes shine all day today!"